Poetry Explorer


Classic and Contemporary Poetry


A 'RISE' by ERNEST MCGAFFEY

First Line: UNDER THE SHADOWS OF A CLIFF
Last Line: THE BLACK BASS RISES TO THE FLY.

UNDER the shadows of a cliff
Crowned with a growth of stately pine
An angler moors his rocking skiff
And o'er the ripple casts his line,
And where the darkling current crawls
Like thistle-down the gay lure falls.

Then from the depths a silver gleam
Quick flashes, like a jewel bright,
Up through the waters of the stream
An instant visible to sight --
As lightning cleaves the sombre sky
The black bass rises to the fly.



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